PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Fibroblasts in the penis are more important for erectile function than previously thought

2024-02-08
(Press-News.org) Regular erections could be important for maintaining erectile function, according to a new study on mice published in Science by researchers at Karolinska Institutet. “We discovered that an increased frequency of erections leads to more fibroblasts that enable erection and vice versa, that a decreased frequency results in fewer of these cells,” says principal investigator Christian Göritz.

In a new study on mice, researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University in Sweden show that connective tissue cells called fibroblasts have a previously unknown and very important function in mediating erection.

“Fibroblasts are the most abundant cells in the penis of both mice and humans, but they have been neglected in research,” says Eduardo Guimaraes, researcher at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at Karolinska Institutet and first author of the paper. “Now we can show, using a very precise method called optogenetics, that they have a very important role in regulating blood flow in the penis, which is what makes the penis erect.”

The study shows that fibroblasts mediate erection by taking up the neurotransmitter noradrenaline, which leads to the widening of blood vessels in the penis. How effective this process is depends on the number of fibroblasts.

The body adapts

The researchers were also able to show that the number of fibroblasts in the penis is affected by the frequency of erections. The more frequent the more fibroblasts and vice versa; a lower frequency of erections reduced the number of fibroblasts.

“It’s not so strange really. If you exert yourself a lot, your body adapts. If you run regularly, it will eventually become easier to breathe while running,” says Christian Göritz, senior researcher at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at Karolinska Institutet, who led the study.

In terms of what conclusions can be drawn for humans from studies on mice, Christian Göritz says that in this case there are significant similarities.

“The basic mechanisms of erection are very similar in all mammals regarding anatomy, cell structure and so on,” he says. “However, there is one difference between humans and most mammals – they have a bone in their penis. This means that effective blood flow regulation is probably even more important for human reproduction.”

Fewer fibroblasts with age

Older mice had fewer fibroblasts in the penis, which was also reflected in lower blood flow. The ability to get an erection decreases with age also in humans, which could be partly due to fewer fibroblasts in the penis. The researchers therefore believe that it could be possible to train the ability to get an erection to counteract impotence in the same way as you can train your strength or fitness at the gym.

“This is not something we have shown in our study, so it is a bit speculative, but a reasonable interpretation is that it gets easier if you have regular erections,” says Christian Göritz.

He hopes that the new knowledge of the role of fibroblasts in erection may also lead to new treatments for erectile dysfunction.

The research was mainly funded by the Bertil Hållsten Foundation and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. There are no reported conflicts of interest.

Facts: Erectile dysfunction, or impotence, affects between 5 and 20 per cent of all men, with the incidence increasing with age. Erectile dysfunction often negatively affects the quality of life and physical and psychosocial health, both for the patient and their family. Common risk factors, apart from age, are similar to those for cardiovascular disease: inactivity, obesity, hypertension, smoking, high cholesterol levels and metabolic syndrome. Source: Region Stockholm knowledge support Viss.nu.

Publication: "Corpora cavernosa fibroblasts mediate penile erection", Eduardo Linck Guimaraes, David Oliveira Dias, Wing Fung Hau, Anais Julien, Daniel Holl, Maria Garcia-Collado, Soniya Savant, Evelina Vågesjö, Mia Phillipson, Lars Jakobsson, Christian Göritz. Science, online 8 February 2024, doi: 10.1126/science.ade8064.

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

MIT physicists capture the first sounds of heat “sloshing” in a superfluid

2024-02-08
In most materials, heat prefers to scatter. If left alone, a hotspot will gradually fade as it warms its surroundings. But in rare states of matter, heat can behave as a wave, moving back and forth somewhat like a sound wave that bounces from one end of a room to the other. In fact, this wave-like heat is what physicists call “second sound.”  Signs of second sound have been observed in only a handful of materials. Now MIT physicists have captured direct images of second sound for the first time.  The new images reveal how heat can move like a wave, ...

How emotions affect word retrieval in people with aphasia

2024-02-08
COLUMBUS, Ohio – People with aphasia have more trouble coming up with words they want to use when they’re prompted by images and words that carry negative emotional meaning, new research suggests. The study involved individuals whose language limitations resulted from damage to the brain caused by a stroke – the most common cause of aphasia, affecting at least one-third of stroke survivors. The disorder impairs the expression and understanding of language as well as reading and writing. Researchers from The Ohio State University who led the study said the findings – suggesting that prompts ...

Pregnant women living in states with limited access to abortion face higher levels of intimate partner homicide

2024-02-08
Key Takeaways  Young women under the age of 30, Black women, and women with lower education levels are disproportionately affected by intimate partner homicide during pregnancy, reflecting the need to better serve and protect these vulnerable populations.  Particularly by firearms, increasing rates of intimate partner homicide of women who are pregnant or recently pregnant are occurring in states that have limited access to abortion.  Researchers describe a ‘dire ...

Researchers uncover genetic factors for severe Lassa fever

2024-02-08
While combing through the human genome in 2007, computational geneticist Pardis Sabeti made a discovery that would transform her research career. As a then postdoctoral fellow at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Sabeti discovered potential evidence that some unknown mutation in a gene called LARGE1 had a beneficial effect in the Nigerian population. Other scientists had discovered that this gene was critical for the Lassa virus to enter cells. Sabeti wondered whether a mutation in LARGE1 ...

Leader in robotics at U-M and beyond elected to National Academy of Engineering

2024-02-08
Feb. 8, 2024 Contact: Katherine McAlpine, 734-647-7087, kmca@umich.edu    Image Leader in robotics at U-M and beyond elected to National Academy of Engineering Dawn Tilbury is recognized for advances in manufacturing network control and human-robot interaction, as well as engineering leadership ANN ARBOR—Dawn Tilbury, the Ronald D. and Regina C. McNeil Department Chair of Robotics at the University of Michigan, has been recognized with one of engineering's greatest honors—election to the National Academy of Engineering.  NAE members are outstanding researchers, ...

16 UTA scholars receive McNair federal research award

16 UTA scholars receive McNair federal research award
2024-02-08
A competitive U.S. Department of Education program that prepares undergraduate students interested in careers in academic research has selected 16 undergraduate students from The University of Texas at Arlington to join. The McNair Scholars Program was named for physicist and astronaut Ronald E. McNair, the second Black astronaut in U.S. history and one of several crew members killed when the space shuttle Challenger exploded on Jan. 28, 1986. The program assists qualified first-generation ...

Nanofiber bandages fight infection, speed healing

2024-02-08
ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell University researchers have identified a new way to harness the antioxidant and antibacterial properties of a botanical compound to make nanofiber-coated cotton bandages that fight infection and help wounds heal more quickly. The findings are especially important given the increasing prevalence of multidrug-resistant bacteria. Cotton gauze is one of the most common wound dressings; it’s inexpensive, readily available, comfortable and biocompatible. However, it doesn’t promote healing or fight infection. “Cotton alone cannot provide an answer for these ...

Newly discovered genetic malfunction causes rare lung disease

Newly discovered genetic malfunction causes rare lung disease
2024-02-08
The macrophage is one of the body’s most important inhabitants. Meaning “big eater” in Greek, this immune cell consumes and digests problematic elements from microbes and cancer cells to dust and debris. Macrophages are especially important in the lungs, where they both fight bacterial infection and clear the lungs of excess surfactant, a protein- and lipid-rich layer that’s essential to healthy function but can create a sticky buildup if not controlled. In a recent study, investigators from Rockefeller University ...

Even with resolution, acute kidney injury in newborns can be life-threatening from very first episode

Even with resolution, acute kidney injury in newborns can be life-threatening from very first episode
2024-02-08
Our resilient kidneys are invaluable members of the body’s purification system, and they excel at bouncing back after injury. This even holds true for most sick infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. Because of this remarkable ability, dips in kidney function in infants were often overlooked historically in favor of other pressing diseases or symptoms. But physicians and researchers have shown increased interest in understanding kidney health in newborns and young infants within the last decade, leading to the AWAKEN study (Assessment of Worldwide Acute Kidney Epidemiology in Neonates). With initial ...

High-profile incidents of police brutality sway public opinion more than performance of people’s local law enforcement, new study from NYU Tandon reveals

2024-02-08
National media coverage of police brutality influences public perceptions of law enforcement more than the performance of people’s local police departments, according to data analysis from NYU Tandon School of Engineering, challenging the assumption that public confidence in police depends mostly on feeling safe from local crime. In a study published in Communications Psychology, a NYU Tandon research team tracked media coverage of police brutality in 18 metropolitan areas in the United States – along with coverage of local crimes  – and analyzed tweets from those cities to tease out positive attitudes from negative ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Caltech's new fingerprint mass spectrometry method paves the way to solving the proteome

Invasive flathead catfish impacting Susquehanna’s food chain, researchers find

Javadi receives DOE Early Career Award to study qubit hosts

Obesity Medicine Fellowship created at Pennington Biomedical

Structural biology analysis of a Pseudomonas bacterial virus reveals a genome ejection motor

Remote tool developed to helped detect autism and developmental delay in children with limited access to specialists

Texas Accounting Chair Steven Kachelmeier garners coveted award for scholarship

CABHI launches funding program that ignites innovation to advance healthy aging

A fully automated AI-based system for assessing IVF embryo quality

Senolytics dasatinib and quercetin for prevention of pelvic organ prolapse in mice

UCLA efforts to provide prostate cancer treatment in the community gets $6 million boost

Study asks: Can cell phone signals help land a plane?

Artificial intelligence is creating a new way of thinking, an external thought process outside of our minds

Reaction conditions tune catalytic selectivity

Verified users on social media networks drive polarization and the formation of echo chambers

Get a grip: The best thumb position for disc launch speed and spin rate

Maternal eating disorders, BMI, and offspring psychiatric diagnoses

Geometric mechanics shape the dog's nose

‘Visual clutter’ alters information flow in the brain

Researchers succeed in taking 3D x-ray images of a skyrmion

MRI can save rectal cancer patients from surgery, study suggests

Fyodor Urnov on clinical crisis in CRISPR genome editing

People with type 2 diabetes who eat low-carb may be able to discontinue medication

Air pollution linked to having a peanut allergy during childhood

Dangers of the metaverse and VR for US youth revealed in new research

A national indicator for a just energy transition

Cognitive effort whets the appetite for reward

European funders and organizations partner to promote sustainable research

A model for the decline of trends, fads, and information sharing

Plastic mulch is contaminating agricultural fields

[Press-News.org] Fibroblasts in the penis are more important for erectile function than previously thought